Cosmetic powders today serve many different functions. A face powder may be applied to give a smooth sheen to the wearer's skin, and may serve as a foundation. It may be translucent, or may alternatively be pigmented to match the skin tone of the user. Cosmetic powder may also comprise sunscreen to protect against damage to underlying skin from exposure to sunlight. These powders may also absorb oils from the skin and prevent the appearance of shiny patches, and may furthermore conceal open pores.
Cosmetic powders are available for application as a compact that contains pressed powder, or as a loose powder in a container. However, uniform distribution of the cosmetic upon the user's face is more easily achieved through the application of a loose powder. Many producers of a cosmetic powder will market their products by housing the powder in a separate container, into which a brush may be dipped to withdraw an uncertain amount of the product. Since these cosmetic products are expensive, a number of inventions have been developed to attempt to provide for the controlled and/or metered dispensing of the powder. These inventions typically comprise a chamber for housing the loose powder, and some means of dispensing the powder.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,224,287 to Gieux for “Powder Dispensing Brush for Cosmetic Use” includes a powder reservoir having tufts of hairs secured thereto using a sleeve, with the powder being permitted to migrate from the reservoir to the hair by at least one passage therebetween. However, this does not inhibit or limit the transmission of powder from the reservoir to the hairs, and can become quite messy.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,932,533 to Chen for “Cosmetic Container for Controlling Powder Flow Rate” provides better control over the flow of the powder. The Chen device comprises a container body for storing the powder, and has a pair of corresponding guiding slots on an end, with the container body being rotatably secured to a brush body that has a pair of corresponding outlet slots that may align with the guiding slots for a portion of the rotation between the two members, to permit the transfer of powder therebetween and onto the brush. So, powder is only transferred to the brush when some portion of the guiding slots and outlet slots are aligned. But the user does not have a visual cue as to when they are or are not aligned, as they are internal, and thus the user does not have positive control over the timing and amount of powder permitted to escape from the container body. Thus, the user may unintentionally store the unit while the slots are aligned leading to an excessive expulsion of powder onto the brush, much of which may be wasted.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,275,885 to Byun for “Cosmetic Brush” discloses a device that stores powder in a body, and by actuating a push-button that moves a spring-biased rod, the rod causes powder to flow through an inlet hole and an outlet hole of a powder transfer tube, for delivery of the powder in a constant amount onto a brush. Therefore, the Byun device, by transmitting a constant amount of powder with each cycling of the button, offers an improvement over the prior art powder dispensers, which were messy and less efficient. The present invention addresses the drawbacks of the prior art in a different manner, which furthermore permits the user the choice of a limited incremental transmission of powder, or of storing a medium or large quantity of powder for a more substantial and immediate application, or a later application.